In February, Marissa was in London and when she returned home she raved about a dessert she had there, Banoffee Pie, aka Bonoffi Pie. Banoffee is a banana and toffee pie that was invented in 1972 at The Hungry Monk restaurant. I promised to make it for her and today I am fulfilling that promise.  Her friend, and former college roommate, Petra, has been in town the last couple of weeks and she is leaving tomorrow, so I made the pie for them to share.  It was Petra who Marissa was visiting in the UK and Petra who introduced her to the dessert.

I found the original Hungry Monk recipe online and that is what I am posting here.  That was all good until I was ready to put the whipped cream on top and decided to go look at Marissa’s picture of the pie to see if the topping was spread or piped on.  The picture of her slice of pie looks nothing like what I’ve made, as you can see below!

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My friend and neighbor, Ronnie, is a CAbi (Carol Anderson by invitation) Consultant. CAbi is a line of beautiful woman’s clothing that is sold at private parties in people’s homes. Recently one of Ronnie’s hostesses served these decadent toffee cookie bars that are seriously candy rich! The recipe is from a recent Pillsbury Bake-Off.  I believe the original Bake-Off recipe used white chocolate chips, but the hostess substituted peanut butter chips, which I think is a great idea.  Also the original recipe makes 24 bars, these are far too rich for that, so I cut them into 45 bars… much more manageable for the tummy!  Thanks, Ronnie for passing on this recipe to me. I hope you enjoy that I’m passing it on to you! [Read more →]

Before we get to today’s recipe I want to let you know about a change to the summer schedule.  I’ve changed Week 5 to a new format. It is now a “tween/teen” week for 11-16 year olds and will take place from Monday, June 27-Friday, July 1. There are still six spaces available for that week, so if you are interest, go to the “Classes” page on the left and check it out!

And speaking of kids… This dessert can easily be made “kid-friendly” by substituting 1/2 cup fresh orange juice for the Grand Marnier and Cognac in the compote.

This, the forth – and final – for a little while, recipe installment in the 80th birthday party theme incorporates two interesting food-related items from 1931.

In 1931 the sidecar was created  by Harry MacElhone of Harry’s Bar in Paris during prohibition here in the States. To make the famous drink; pour 1  1/2 -ounces Cognac or Armagnac, 3/4-ounce Grand Marnier or Cointreau, and 1/4-ounce fresh lemon juice into a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Also in 1931, General Mills introduced Bisquick.  According to General Mills, Bisquick was born when one of their sales executives met a train dining car chef who mixed lard and the dry ingredients for biscuits ahead of time. So between the drink named the “sidecar” and the fact that Bisquick was born on a train dining car…. these sweet delights are aptly named.

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These darling green tartlets are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day but they will soon be serving another purpose for me.

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There are few desserts more elegant and beautiful than a perfect poached pear. I remember, way back when, I was intimidated at the thought of making poached pears at home. But after that first attempt (honestly, some 20+ years ago), I couldn’t believe how easy and simple it was.  If you are still in awe and a bit afraid yourself, give this recipe a try, you too will be amazed at the ease and beauty of this lovely fruit presentation.

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Need a quick dessert? Do you have 10 minutes? If so, these are for you.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it’s a rich dessert, indeed. Plus this is perfect for the summer, when you don’t want to heat up the oven.

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since I’ve posted a recipe!  It wasn’t suppose to be that way, it’s been a rough week! I know that one of these brownies will make me feel much better.

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My baby girl was in Stonehenge yesterday. I don’t know why, but this photo that she posted on Facebook, made me want to make these cookie bars…

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… is Valentine’s Day!  Are you ready? Here’s a pretty, fun, and festive tart to make and present to your loved ones. It’s easy and comes together quickly, all you need to do is get yourself a heart-shaped tart pan. You’ll find them at kitchen stores such as Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, or locally at ABC Cake Decorating. Or, if you get on the stick today, you can even order it from Amazon at THIS LINK.

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There’s nothing like a little salt with your chocolate, the flavor combination is irresistible, no wonder peanut M&Ms are a snacking favorite. The pretzels can be difficult to make into crumbs for this crust, but not to worry, the mixer will do the finishing work for you. Be sure to use the pulse button of your food processor to coarsely chop the pretzels, otherwise you’ll just have a pile of fine crumbs. Then when you add them to the butter and powdered sugar in the mixer, and let it go to town, they’ll end up being the perfect consistency. Picture proof below!

Valentine’s Day is only 2 weeks away. This is a special little something you might like to consider making for the sweethearts in your life.

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OK, if you read this blog regularly, then you already know that I love citrus and specifically, lemon. Even if you’ve only been reading since the beginning of the year, you know that we are in the middle of citruspalooza, not it has been very evident, since I haven’t posted very many recipes yet, but they are coming… here is one to kick things off. Lemon Bars! Yep, another recipe on this blog for lemon bars. There are at least two other recipes already here, so why put up another? Well, because lemon bars are one my favorite things in the world and because this is the easiest lemon bar recipe in the universe. So easy that it is Connor you see making and then eating the bars!

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